Family Relations
by Satan Abraham
Summary: Sirius' family is... weird. [oneshot] [marauders] [little baby just-finished-first-year james and sirius] [idek man] [idek]


James Potter didn't quite know what to expect, stepping out of the muggle world and into Sirius' home. He certainly hadn't expected a small boy to crash down the stairs and tackle Sirius around the waist.

"Who's… this?" he asked cautiously, and the boy peeled himself off of Sirius immediately, his expression flat and, when he spoke, his voice as cold as a Slytherin's.

"Hello," he said, and inclined his head slightly. He definitely looked like Sirius' brother, even if he was skinnier than James thought Sirius had ever been and his hair didn't have that wave to it. "W-"

"Cut the pureblood stuff, Reg," Sirius said, grabbing James around the neck and rubbing his head, effectively messing his hair even more than it already was. James wriggled away, grinning. "This is my best mate, James. He's a pureblood, too, so if they complain, they can-"

Sirius proceeded to list off several things that 'they' – James guessed the Black parents, though it could have been any sort of person – could do to themselves or each other, and only stopped when a severe-looking woman came into view, seemingly out of nowhere. James knew that a lot of old pureblood mansions had secret passageways – his own house, Potter Manor, had a decent amount of them – but it was sudden enough that he jumped and tugged hard on Sirius' sleeve.

Sirius paled and shut his mouth.

"And who is this, Sirius?" Walburga Black asked. James could really tell where Sirius' younger brother got it.

"Mother, this is James Potter," Sirius said, his voice trying to recreate the same cold, measured tone that his family members had, but James looked at him out of the corner of his eye and thought that he either looked close to tears or close to laughter. Knowing Sirius, it was probably both. "He's come to stay for a bit. His parents will take him home within the week."

"One of your…" Walburga's lip curled. "Gryffindors?"

"Yes, but he is a pureblood," Sirius said, taking a step forward. "So-"

Regulus was making grand motions with his hands in a not-so-subtle way to tell Sirius to shut up, but Sirius didn't look as though he was about to listen. Within the next few minutes both James and Sirius were in Sirius' room, James with the distinct impression that they'd been exiled there.

Sirius wasted no time in unpacking his things from Hogwarts. James knew that he hadn't gotten home since being sorted into Gryffinder, and definitely hadn't for Christmas, even though James had – he felt bad, next year he'd ask Sirius to come with his family, especially now that he saw what Sirius had to live with during the summer – so his room was nearly bare. He was pulling the several Gryffindor flags and pennants he'd nicked from the common room out of his trunk, holding them up to the wall critically.

"I'm pretty sure this would give any member of your family a heart attack," James said, and Sirius laughed.

"Yeah," he said. "They're not – yeah. I need to get good at that permanent sticking charm so they don't just rip 'em down when I turn my back. Gimme a hand, will you? I want to hang this from the ceiling."

James went over and crouched, Sirius getting on his shoulders. He held his wand between his teeth as he positioned it and James tried to keep himself from spilling Sirius onto the floor. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't notice that Regulus had entered the room until the kid cleared his throat.

Seriously – a kid. Clearing his throat. James had no idea how Sirius had turned out as cool as he had.

Either way, James fell, Sirius fell, and the flag covered them both. Regulus shut the door behind him.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked, making his way to his feet. James stayed on the floor, using the flag as a pillow and watching the situation with his head turned to the side. "I'm busy-"

"You didn't come home for Christmas," Regulus said. He crossed his arms. "And you're hanging up Gryffindor stuff. And you made th-"

"And I made them mad, I know," Sirius snapped. "I just wanted to hang out with my friend for a while, is that too much to ask? It's not like – I mean, I have friends that they definitely wouldn't approve of. James is the most family-approved friend I have!"

James gave a thumbs up. Both of them ignored him, and he scowled. He didn't like being ignored most of the time, but in this situation, there was a part of him that was glad that they were paying attention to each other and not him.

"But-" Regulus cut himself off and sighed. "Why couldn't you just have been in Slytherin? Now when I go, I won't have any friends. I'll be all alone."

"You've got a few years," Sirius said, shrugging. "And they'll all be happy to befriend you, you're going to fit right in."

James thought that his might be a sort of back-handed compliment, but it seemed to brighten Regulus' day, so James guessed it was okay. Even though they'd probably end up laughing about it later, because, yeah, from what James had seen, Regulus Black was going to be the ultra-Slytherin.

"I'll play with you when James leaves," Sirius said. "He's just going to be here for a week."

"But you saw him all _year! _And – and holidays! And everything!"

Sirius sighed and pushed Regulus out of his room, locking the door behind him. He turned back to James, who had by now pushed himself to a seating position, his back against the footboard of Sirius' bed.

"Next time we decide to stay over at each other's house, we're going to my place" James said, and Sirius made a face and flopped down beside him.

"Definitely."

* * *

**I don't really even know why this is happening. But I got the idea, so I just… went for it.**


End file.
